2 very sick birds

Misty · **Posted:** Tue May 08, 2012 10:54 pm

I have 2 young plymouth rocks - 16 weeks probably and they have been sick for at least 8 weeks. Very thin, hunched and a bit lack lustre. I separated them about 5 weeks ago and fed them a special (put on weight) diet, gave them the Baycox treatment, and a couple of days later - the worming treatment. They don't have lice. They seemed to improve a bit after about 10 days and so I put them back with their mates. Now they are both back where they started. They move around okay - their poo is pale brown and a sloppy - quite a sweetish smell to it and they drink lots of water (well about 125mls per day).
Any ideas? The other think that I thought may have been the problem, was that they somehow got hold of a little rat bait. But unlikely, and I have been giving them Vitamin K just in case.

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Hi Misty,

It could be several things but I wonder with a sweetish smell whether it could be a fungal infection of the gut.
It may be worth getting a combined faecal sample from the 2 birds checked by a vet who knows something about birds (Colin Walker may be the closest to you) to look for yeast, Macrorhabdus (aka megabacteria) or even protozoal parasites that the wormer may have not treated. This shouldn't cost too much and then you have a better chance of treating the problem properly rather than guessing and going on medication trials which may not work.

For example, the more effective antifungals are prescription-only, but for mild cases Nystatin may help.

Cheers and good luck,

Parvo

Misty · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2012 6:40 pm

Thanks Parvo, I will look into it. Misty

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